Has prayer ever worked for you?

[nanette1985]

If so, what kind of prayer &/or what religion?

My aunt died this morning after a year of colon cancer.

I grew up in a very religious family (actually I'd call it a cult). People have been praying for my aunt for the entire time she's been sick. Lots of people, the entire Mennonite community in several countries have been praying for her.

Would've been nice if something good happened, but it didn't. I'd gladly keep on praying if I knew that somewhere, sometime, something positive had ever resulted from prayer.

Hoping for positive responses. Bye. Leaving soon for funeral.

 

[Vaux]

I am sorry for your loss, and I am sorry that I don't have a positive response for you.

I think it would be very difficult to pray for something, then if it happens, to factually state it was your prayer that made it happen. Unless you pray for a 1 ton diamond or something, then one magically appears next to you. That would be damn impressive to me.

I don't believe in god, but my take on prayer is that it's a total waste of time. People pray all the time, and when it doesn't happen, they say well, it was gods plan. If god has a plan, and he is going to do what he wants, then why bother praying in the first place.

 

[v-600]

Yep, every time I've prayed for advice I end up confirming the thing I thought in the first place.

I don't mean to be glib. I think the positive effects of prayer are felt by the one praying, rather than anyone they are praying for. If it makes you feel better, then its worth doing. If you want to help someone else, then a more successful/useful approach is to go out and help them. I realise in your case that wasn't really a viable option though.

It seems to me that praying for someone is like the old fashioned version of a facebook like. Easy to do, but ultimately not very useful.

 

[dawp]

I think it's more of a placebo effect. if you believe it's going to work it has a better chance. if ya think you're doomed there is no chance even with modern medicine.

I'm an atheist btw.

 

[Retro Rob]

If so, what kind of prayer &/or what religion?

My aunt died this morning after a year of colon cancer.

I grew up in a very religious family (actually I'd call it a cult). People have been praying for my aunt for the entire time she's been sick. Lots of people, the entire Mennonite community in several countries have been praying for her.

Would've been nice if something good happened, but it didn't. I'd gladly keep on praying if I knew that somewhere, sometime, something positive had ever resulted from prayer.

Hoping for positive responses. Bye. Leaving soon for funeral.

Sorry to hear about your lost -- I personally wish you and your family the best through this.

A positive, if I can say that, that could come out of this is that it wasn't a so-called "unanswered prayer" that caused her death, it was colon cancer. If she was never sick, there obviously would be no reason to pray for her to get better to begin with.

I think people reading this thread ought to keep that in mind.

 

[nickbits]

Prayer is good for keeping your spirits up and to make people think they can help with whatever problem ether they are praying about without doing any real work to help.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Sorry for your loss. I hope her passing was reasonably peaceful and quick.

 

[Moonbeam]

If so, what kind of prayer &/or what religion?

My aunt died this morning after a year of colon cancer.

I grew up in a very religious family (actually I'd call it a cult). People have been praying for my aunt for the entire time she's been sick. Lots of people, the entire Mennonite community in several countries have been praying for her.

Would've been nice if something good happened, but it didn't. I'd gladly keep on praying if I knew that somewhere, sometime, something positive had ever resulted from prayer.

Hoping for positive responses. Bye. Leaving soon for funeral.

My dear sweet soul, I hear in your words your own prayer, a prayer for an answer to your doubts about prayer, a seeking of the positive in a universe that ends for all of us in death.

I cannot answer your prayer but only tell you of my feelings about this same dilemma:

I used to pray that God would show me that he existed and He never did until the moment when the last of my faith was extinguished, when I surrendered to the hopelessness I felt knowing that He does not exist for me but that my own will, my own desire for the good couldn't in hopelessness be taken from me, that the love I sought out there in some King of the Universe was all right there inside of me.

It was possible then for me to understand things differently than I did before, this for example:

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.

The Kingdom of Heaven is here for the person who prays that his will is the Will of God and that what he prays for is what God wills.

Everything is attitude and I believe the perfect attitude can be had by those who have no prayers for the self but pray that the Will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven. To experience such surrender and trust is to love. I wish you much love from someone who believes that the Love of God finds its way into the world from inside you, that love is God's Will.

 

[Orignal Earl]

I don't know you, but I feel (pray) for you
I hope (pray) that while you are surrounded by family and friends today, that the connections that we all share, no matter the religion, comforts you.
You and I can pass that along to the next person we meet, and to me, that's what it's all about.

Remember when Aunty did (fill in the blank). Everybody laughed and every Christmas (or whatever) when we are back together, we reminisce, shed a tear, and smile.

Take care, Love Earl

 

[Orignal Earl]

I started typing before you replied Moonie.
It took me that long to try to get my words right.
My man..you got a gift, and a soul to match.
So often on this forum over the years, I've got caught up in the crap.
Then you posted something, I stopped and reflected on your words.
I'm really glad you post here, it helps the balance

 

[Juddog]

I used to do pray tests as a child, to find that they're completely meaningless and I'm really just talking to myself inwardly, similar to how Steve Carrell's character in the 40-year old virgin is trying to imagine a woman and starts realizing it's his own mind talking to himself.

That's what sucks about learning that fairy tales aren't real, but we all have to come to grips at some point with reality - or you can live your whole life in fantasy I guess, but then that's like purposefully being blind by closing your eyes because you don't want to believe what you'd see if you opened them.

 

[Kadarin]

NYTimes reporting on a medical study of prayer effectiveness: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

[Moonbeam]

Thank you, Earl, for your kind words. I just lost my step-Mom who had been battling cancer for over 30 years and did not die of it. I wish you could have known her. She was an inspiration to so many people. Do not worry and live day by day was her thing, a staunch Republican, but without the religious trappings. Her prayers were her will. She survived over thirty years of operations and chemo and radiation many many times, who knows why, but it couldn't have hurt that she loved being alive and almost the moment she decided she's had enough she died, peacefully and without pain. She was wide awake and conversant right up to the last few minutes. The most common words folk spoke at her Birthday party turned life celebration was that she was amazing. One of the things she told her niece that she spoke about was saying good bye to her and saying she would see her next week. She said she smiled at her, waved her pinkie, and said, I hope not. She didn't either.

 

[spittledip]

Nannette,

I am sorry for your loss... To answer your question, I have experienced answered prayer, not usually anything very dramatic, though. The most dramatic thing I can remember was last year when a person I go to church with suddenly became very ill due to a failing pancreas. She went into a coma and the doctors gave her up for dead b/c she was in such bad shape. She experienced a sudden turn-around much to the doctors' surprise, and is alive and well today. She had alot of people praying for her, including myself.

That said, I have had alot of prayers go unanswered, or at least, not answered in the way I wanted them to be answered. There is something I have been praying for for the last 3 years that remains hanging and tattered, although it is moving in a way, and I have to say, to my benefit, but not in a direct way or a way without pain. I think it is partly my fault though... but to be honest I can't firmly say that.

So, all that said, God has answered my prayers in complete ways at times, in ways not to my liking at times, and in time-lapse ways at times.

To answer your 2nd question, I am a Christian. I pray throughout the day as I go, but also have a couple of short times during the day dedicated to prayer, as well as a couple of times of prayer with other Christians during the week, and my wife and I pray together a few times a week.

 

[shortylickens]

All prayer did was confirm my theory about god.
He's strictly hands-off and expects us to solve our own problems.

 

[bigboxes]

I was an avowed atheist in my early 20's, seeing no sign of a creator. In the mid 90's, I got baptized as an adult. I remember praying one day to God for direction in life. I felt the presence of a being that seemed very real. I was asked to commit further and hesitated. Then the feeling went away. I was both comforted and disappointed all at the same time. I rarely testify about the experience, but share with others when I feel the time is appropriate. I'm not one that proselytizes.

Back in 1999, I was despondent about not finding work while I was in graduate school. I got on my knees and prayed to God to help me get a job. 15 minutes later I got a call saying that I got a job I had interviewed for. I wish things worked like that more often. It would be like having your very own genie!

 

[Juddog]

I was an avowed atheist in my early 20's, seeing no sign of a creator. In the mid 90's, I got baptized as an adult. I remember praying one day to God for direction in life. I felt the presence of a being that seemed very real. I was asked to commit further and hesitated. Then the feeling went away. I was both comforted and disappointed all at the same time. I rarely testify about the experience, but share with others when I feel the time is appropriate. I'm not one that proselytizes.

Back in 1999, I was despondent about not finding work while I was in graduate school. I got on my knees and prayed to God to help me get a job. 15 minutes later I got a call saying that I got a job I had interviewed for. I wish things worked like that more often. It would be like having your very own genie!

Yes instead of helping starving children, let's invoke God for that new job! Better yet, let's invoke God and get that big win for your football team! Go go hurrah!

 

[Retro Rob]

Yes instead of helping starving children, let's invoke God for that new job! Better yet, let's invoke God and get that big win for your football team! Go go hurrah!

How much money have you donated to starving children over the past say...10 years?

How often do you pass bums in your neighborhood without lending them your warm bed for a night or two?

Or, how many food drives and soup kitchens have you personally attended, sponsored, ran?

Oh, you're waiting for God too....or someone else to do it!!

 

[WelshBloke]

I don't really understand prayer.

Is god supposed to have not noticed the bad things until we point them out or does he just get off on people suffering and begging for help?

 

[TreyRandom]

Prayer has indeed "worked" for me... though I don't always get the answer I want or expect, nor does the answer always come in the time that I want it to. See, prayer isn't a system where you beg for something to happen and it magically happens. Sometimes, we don't understand why God doesn't answer our prayers the way we want Him to. But we don't see - and can't possibly understand - the "big picture" the way God does. I simply have to trust that His way is best, even if I don't understand it. Eventually, I will, but not while I'm here.

So... for specifics. God has answered my prayers several times, but the one occasion that stands out for me is when I prayed for my Grandmother. She had had severe Alzheimers for nine years, and over that time, I prayed that God would heal her. Again and again I prayed... though, over time, those prayers became less and less frequent.

One Sunday morning, our class leader taught a lesson about how God answers prayer... not always with a "yes", but sometimes with a "no" or a "wait". At the end of class, I prayed again for God to heal my Grandmother... or, if it was His will, to take her to be with Him.

She died that morning. We had had no prior indication that she was going to die... she just died.

Now, either that was a wild coincidence that it happened the one day out of 3300 days that I changed how I approached God with my prayer... or that was God showing me that prayer does indeed work, even when He doesn't give me the answer I want.

Death isn't the big bad boogeyman that we should all fear. Death is simply the transition from this life to the next. We hurt and cry because our loved ones have been taken away from us, and we will miss them deeply. But for me as a Christian, I have comfort in knowing that they have gone to a far better place than here... and I will only be apart from them for a little while until I can join them there.

If you're interested in other specific instances, I'm more than willing to share them. If so, just send me a private message.

I pray that God will comfort you and your family during this stressful time. Blessings to you.

 

[bigboxes]

Yes instead of helping starving children, let's invoke God for that new job! Better yet, let's invoke God and get that big win for your football team! Go go hurrah!

I'm fairly liberal in my theology and find much hypocrisy amongst those that claim to be religious. I'm not sure it all makes much difference in the end. I'm not sure where I said to rely on prayer to get things done. Prayer is just a means of communication. Whether you believe it has any affect or that there is no "higher power" is not my concern. I was just relaying my experience as asked by the OP.

As far as helping others, I believe that God works through us all. I do volunteer at my local night shelter. I also support my tax dollars going towards food stamps and other means of assistance. I'm also sure that God does not care who wins a football game. I find pregame/postgame prayers self-serving and contrary to the teachings of Jesus. As far as the job goes, I was despondent, prayed and got a job offer a short time later. Coincidence? Probably. But again, I was just answering the OP's question.

 

[denis280]

Death isn't the big bad boogeyman that we should all fear. Death is simply the transition from this life to the next. We hurt and cry because our loved ones have been taken away from us, and we will miss them deeply. But for me as a Christian, I have comfort in knowing that they have gone to a far better place than here... and I will only be apart from them for a little while until I can join them there.

Nice. and well said

 

[Harrod]

Prayer has worked for me, I mostly pray for wisdom in my life and for a family I sponsor over seas and the people in my life and co-workers when I know that they are dealing with major issues in their lives. I am a Christian.

There have been a few times in my life where I was feeling extremely down about everything in my life and I asked God to give me peace. Almost immediately things have changed for the better, I don't really want to go into the details of one particular situation.

I've also been able to tell when people were praying for me.

 

[tcsenter]

Yes, no, or wait = prayer always works. Even if you pray to a jug of milk, it ALWAYS works.

Forgetting the misses and remembering the hits.

 

[WelshBloke]

Still not getting the logistics of this.

If you pray for a job and get it does that mean that god doesn't like everyone else that prayed to get the same job? Or did god just think you were the most deserving? If so wouldn't you have been just as deserving even if you hadn't prayed?

And what's with getting lots of people to pray? If god ignores your prayer is he more likely to grant it if lots of people shout at him? That seems... wrong?